Chapter 10
[You have entered Stage 3 Gate, ‘Abandoned Temple of the Stone Golems.’]
It was my second time entering a Gate.
But this was the first time I’d entered one alone.
Even though I’d been told this Gate posed no danger, having someone with me versus going in alone made all the difference in how I felt.
It was only natural to be tense in a place where anything could happen, since dungeons themselves were so unpredictable.
“Hmm, there really are nothing but rocks.”
I tried giving one a few little taps, but as expected, it seemed to be inactive and didn’t move at all.
“All right... Then...”
I unleashed a legion of nearly 3 billion beasts across the entire dungeon.
As you’d expect from microscopic creatures, the bacteria were impossible to see with the naked eye.
But even though I couldn’t see them, I could sense their presence.
I could feel where each bacterial swarm was.
They were my undead legion, after all.
When my legion had spread out appropriately among several golems...
“Tear them apart.”
I let them off the leash.
Fsssh! Before the bacterial swarms that could scatter even steel at the molecular level, the rocks that had lain dormant for ages crumbled like tofu.
The life stones that were exposed in an instant were pulverized, too.
[Your level has increased!]
Five golems were destroyed with a single command, and I leveled up.
It had happened less than a minute after I’d released the bacteria.
[Number of individuals that perished while carrying out the command: 10,711,487]
[Number of individuals that divided while carrying out the command: 6,691,320]
Huh? Fewer of them divided.
More had perished than divided, meaning the total population had decreased by around four million.
Out of a population of nearly three billion, four million was such a tiny fraction that I didn’t need to worry about it. Still, I couldn’t just ignore it.
Come to think of it, when they broke down organic matter, more bacteria divided than perished. But with inorganic matter, the number that perished had been just a tiny bit higher.
Now that they were breaking down a large amount of inorganic matter, the difference had grown noticeable.
“Do I need to feed them or something?”
The larger the bacterial legion, the stronger it would be, and the smaller its numbers, the weaker it would become. I’d probably need to keep an eye on it.
“Haaawn...”
The tension I’d felt when I entered the dungeon soon faded. It was still boring to do nothing but destroy enemies that didn’t even attack.
Yawning, I slowly made my way through the dungeon, destroying the golems one by one.
[You have destroyed nearly every golem in the dungeon.]
[The final Stone Golem becomes enraged by the destruction of its kin!]
“Huh?”
What? What was going on...
[Dungeon Boss, ‘Guardian of the Fallen Temple,’ has appeared!]
Rumble! The ground shook like a small earthquake.
When I looked toward the source of the tremors, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Unlike the golems that had simply been lying still until now, one golem had managed to rise to its feet, even though it was crumbling apart.
The problem was that the golem was far too close.
Close enough that I couldn’t dodge its swinging fist.
Whoooosh! The golem’s fist, now in my field of vision, grew larger and larger.
Was I going to die here? Just like that?
It was at that very moment.
[Guardian ‘Athena’ has sensed the Summoner’s peril and manifested on her own!]
A membrane of bloodgold spread wide in the air like a shield, blocking my view.
KABOOM! Despite the tremendous impact, the bloodgold membrane remained intact without a single crack.
Then the shield that had blocked the golem’s fist began to writhe and coalesce into the shape of a tiny person.
─How dare a lowly, worthless lower-tier golem attack my Summoner?
Athena spoke in a cold tone completely unlike the one she used with me.
A small spear formed in her right hand.
Then the spear, which had been tiny just a moment before, stretched out with a shwooosh! and pierced the golem’s core.
At the same time, I heard something crack.
Its life stone had been pierced in a single strike.
Having lost the power source that kept its massive body intact, the golem crumbled to the ground.
[Dungeon Boss, ‘Guardian of the Fallen Temple,’ has entered eternal rest!]
...So this was what she meant by preemptive defense.
If she could do that with only 0.01% of her bloodgold... If I managed to collect all 100% of it, she’d practically be able to handle everything on her own.
Just as I was thinking that...
[You have temporarily consumed too much mana.]
[You are suffering from mana exhaustion.]
[Your mana recovery rate is reduced to 50% for 3 hours.]
“What did I do to get exhausted...?”
[Mana Status]
─7%/100%
─Current natural mana recovery rate: 0.5% per second (base 1%, while suffering from mana exhaustion).
─Mana consumption to maintain your current population: 0.317% per second (base 30.12%, with the 195% control effect applied).
“Wait, Athena, was that you?”
─That is correct. The Summoner’s mana is required for movement beyond my own operational range. I used your mana to take preemptive action.
In an instant, 93% of my mana was gone.
All for that one move.
She really was strong, but...
If I used her carelessly when I wasn’t in danger, my mana would run out in no time.
“Still, you saved my life. I really thought I was done for.”
I learned that you should never let your guard down in a dungeon, not even until the very last moment.
Who would’ve thought there’d be one perfectly functional golem left in there?
If not for Athena, it wouldn’t have been strange at all if that golem had crushed me with its fist.
As I let out a sigh of relief, a string of messages appeared before my eyes.
This time, I’d better read them one by one.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
I’d instantly gone up three levels. I was already Level 7.
Was leveling up normally this easy?
[You have become the first to conquer the Stage 3 Gate, ‘Abandoned Temple of the Stone Golems.’]
[As a first-clear reward, some of your class’s primary stats have increased.]
[Control has increased by 5%.]
[Great achievement! You have accomplished the feat of being the first to conquer a Gate!]
[You have been awarded a ‘B-Rank Class-Exclusive Equipment Exchange Ticket.’]
[No B-rank exclusive equipment exists for your class.]
[The master of your class, the Constellation Avicenna, intervenes in your reward!]
[Your reward has been replaced with ‘Constellation Avicenna’s Scepter.’]
[Your control has exceeded 200%.]
[All summons under your control will be strengthened further.]
“Hmm... I don’t know what this means, but...”
It’s good, right?
First, my control had increased by 5%, bringing it from 195% to 200%.
It was only a 5% difference, but I’d read a review saying the difference between 99% and 100% was enormous.
So the difference between 195% and 200% must be significant, too.
And the new reward I’d received was...
─It is the staff my Creator used. However, much of its material has been lost.
Athena answered for me.
[Constellation Avicenna’s Scepter]
[Grade] : Constellation’s Legacy
[Description] : The staff that the Constellation Avicenna always used while he was human. It symbolizes his authority. Much of its material has been lost, and it cannot exert its full power in its current state. Replenishing its material will unlock its sealed functions.
[Details] :
─The proficiency of all skills you possess increases by one rank.
─This function is sealed.
─This function is sealed.
─This function is sealed.
─This function is sealed.
<Current remaining material: 0.01%>
Since I didn’t have any equipment to begin with, this was more than I could’ve asked for.
But surely this wasn’t made of bloodgold, too.
─No. It is made of a different material than I am.
“Huh?”
─To restore this staff, you need a Star Relic.
“What the hell is that... No, what is it?”
─It is a mineral said to be extractable only from stars in distant corners of the universe.
“...How am I supposed to get that?”
─It can rarely be found in meteorites, or its stellar components can be extracted by dismantling other equipment that contains a Star Relic.
Somehow, even just hearing about it, it sounded as difficult to obtain as bloodgold.
Hey, you Constellation or whatever... You only ever used luxury goods, didn’t you?
Still, since a Constellation who was decked out in luxury gear had bestowed even a half-broken weapon on me, I’d better make good use of it.
[You have equipped Constellation Avicenna’s Scepter.]
[The proficiency of Undead Rise (Unique) has increased to D.]
[Proficiency D effect: You can maintain up to 2 types of undead.]
“...What?”
I was shocked.
It wasn’t the effect of being able to maintain two types of undead that shocked me...
I’d only been able to maintain one type before?
I couldn’t just turn any bacteria into undead and keep them around? I could only maintain one type?
“Damn, good thing I found that out now...”
If I’d suddenly needed to use a second strain later, aside from my current No. 1 bacteria, and found out I couldn’t because of a proficiency issue, how panicked would I have been...?
That said, I couldn’t abandon the No. 1 bacteria I was currently maintaining.
They were the foundation of all my plans.
“In that case, skill proficiency must be incredibly important.”
It seemed that the higher my Undead Rise proficiency became, the more types of bacteria I’d be able to maintain.
I should make increasing my skill proficiency a goal.
Before I could think it through any further...
[The dungeon has been cleared. You will now be expelled from the dungeon.]
I was expelled from the Gate.
**
When I came out, the first thing I saw was Zephyros chuckling.
“You did it. You really did.”
“Didn’t you send me in because you knew I could do it?”
“I didn’t think you’d clear it on the first try. I figured you’d go in several times, figure out the route, and eventually clear it after a few retries.”
“I almost died.”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“I’m serious.”
I explained how the dungeon boss, a Stone Golem, had suddenly gotten up and attacked me.
Only then did Zephyros’s expression turn serious.
A Stone Golem that could move properly wasn’t the sort of monster you’d find in a Stage 3 dungeon.
“It didn’t look like it was in perfect condition, of course.”
Zephyros listened quietly, then lightly poked my cheek and asked,
“You’re alive, right? You’re not a ghost?”
“...Pardon?”
“You fought a Stone Golem and survived?”
“Well... yes.”
Thanks to my Guardian, anyway.
Zephyros’s expression stiffened as he let out a sigh of relief.
“I really am sorry. I went on and on about how safe it was, and then I put you in danger... I’m the guy who’s always going around saying you should never let your guard down in a dungeon...”
“It’s fine. I’m alive and well, aren’t I?”
“Thank goodness. From now on, I’ll make sure to check every possible variable beforehand.”
“Anyway, did the plan work?”
“Did it work?”
Zephyros grinned and opened the Hunters’ online community on his phone to show me.
─Who the hell is this lunatic, Kim Segyun?
─Where’s the Golem Temple?
─Whoa, is that crazy Gate at the quarry in Chungju the Golem Temple?
─Is that bastard Kim Segyun a pickaxe master? How the hell did he clear that place?
Posts kept updating in real time after that.
They were appearing so quickly it was hard to read them all.
And on the front page of South Korea’s largest portal site, there were headlines, too.
[Breaking: South Korean Hunter Kim Segyun clears a Stage 3 dungeon deemed impossible to clear (Update 1)]
[The dungeon is the Abandoned Temple of the Stone Golems, famous as one of South Korea’s seven impossible-to-clear dungeons (Update 2)]
[Ministry of Resource Development currently working to identify him (Update 3)]
Breaking news articles were coming in one after another.
“Want to see the Chinese and Japanese portals, too?”
“N-No, that’s okay. But... is this really such a big deal...?”
“The Hunter industry’s gotten stagnant.”
It wasn’t as if these dungeons had only recently been deemed impossible to clear.
They’d already been considered impossible back when Zephyros was an active member of the first generation.
The first such verdicts had been issued nearly fifteen years ago.
In other words, no dungeon deemed impossible to clear had been conquered anywhere in the world in the past fifteen years.
After explaining that, Zephyros smiled broadly and said,
“So, are you ready to become famous? The first person to conquer an impossible dungeon in fifteen years?”